A sheet of paper.

[50 Hertz]

If I were to take a sheet of paper 0.15 mm thick, rip it in two and put one half on top of the other, the stack would be 0.3 mm high. If I were to rip the stack in two and place the two halves on top of each other again, I'd have a stack 0.6 mm high (4 x 0.15 mm).

If I were to repeat the process 50 times, how high will the stack of paper be? (I know it's not possible to do this due to the decreasing area of the stack, but pretend for a moment that you can.

Answer tomorrow.

( I read this in a book and it surprised me, but I've now done the sums and its true. )

 

[Ettica]

30cm? ....

 

[mountainsport]

If I were to take a sheet of paper 0.15 mm thick, rip it in two and put one half on top of the other, the stack would be 0.3 mm high. If I were to rip the stack in two and place the two halves on top of each other again, I'd have a stack 0.6 mm high (4 x 0.15 mm).

If I were to repeat the process 50 times, how high will the stack of paper be? (I know it's not possible to do this due to the decreasing area of the stack, but pretend for a moment that you can.

Answer tomorrow.

( I read this in a book and it surprised me, but I've now done the sums and its true. )

Ok then 50 Hertz, when I am hungry later, I will pretend to be filled and see if i'll feel satisfied
Anyway, I will give it a try, the challenge that you have set down for us.

MS.

 

[flecc]

.
675,539,760 kilometres

 

[50 Hertz]

.
675,539,760 kilometres

Yes correct, but I meant a total of 50 repetitions of ripping the paper in half. I probably worded the question ambiguously causing you to calculate the answer based on a further 50 on top of my 2, making 52 in total.

If you repeat the exercise 50 times, the stack will be 168 884 986 kilometres or nearly 105 million miles high. My first instinctive guess was around 200 feet.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I'm afraid your answer is incorrect. It's not possible to tear a piece of paper in half that many times. If you started with apiece 10 meters square, and then were able to tear it in half 10 times, it would only be 1mm wide,so too small to tear.I think about 8 times was the limit when they did it on Bang Goes The Theory.

 

[flecc]

Yes correct, but I meant a total of 50 repetitions of ripping the paper in half. I probably worded the question ambiguously causing you to calculate the answer based on a further 50 on top of my 2, making 52 in total.

Yes, I did do that. Of course as you remarked in your first post, it's hypothetical due to the physical impossibility of ripping it that many times.

However, if cutting instead of ripping and bearing in mind the progress made recently in molecular engineering, the impossibility may not be an absolute.

 

[Scimitar]

If I were to take a sheet of paper 0.15 mm thick, rip it in two and put one half on top of the other, the stack would be 0.3 mm high. If I were to rip the stack in two and place the two halves on top of each other again, I'd have a stack 0.6 mm high (4 x 0.15 mm).

If I were to repeat the process 50 times, how high will the stack of paper be? (I know it's not possible to do this due to the decreasing area of the stack, but pretend for a moment that you can.

Answer tomorrow.

( I read this in a book and it surprised me, but I've now done the sums and its true. )

Why, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you could reach Jupiter and back again in time for tea.

 

[50 Hertz]

I'm afraid your answer is incorrect. It's not possible to tear a piece of paper in half that many times. If you started with apiece 10 meters square, and then were able to tear it in half 10 times, it would only be 1mm wide,so too small to tear.I think about 8 times was the limit when they did it on Bang Goes The Theory.

You don't need to start with a 10 metre square sheet. You can start with a 1 metre sheet and the final area will still be 8.8817841970013e-10 square millimetres. Easy.